Novel partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection associated with brain abscess

Abstract

Background: Right-to-left vascular shunts are associated with brain abscess.

Case report: We present a 47-year-old female with a cryptogenic left thalamic abscess on which Streptococcus mitis grew upon aspiration. Computed tomography of the chest with contrast agent revealed an anomalous connection between the left superior pulmonary and brachiocephalic veins. A right-to-left shunt was confirmed in a transthoracic echocardiogram study in which bubbles were injected into the left arm; this shunt had not previously been noted upon right-arm injection.

Conclusions: We recommend aggressive evaluation for right-to-left shunts in patients who present with cryptogenic brain abscesses. In addition to imaging, this should include a bubble-based study with left-arm saline injection.

Keywords: brain abscess; cryptogenic; pulmonary shunt.

Fig. 1

A: Computed tomography angiogram of the chest. Arrow indicates an anomalous pulmonary venous connection. B: 3-D false-color reconstruction of panel A. Arrow indicates an anomalous pulmonary venous connection. C: Postcontrast T1-weighted transverse MRI scan with rim-enhanced left-side lesion. D: Postcontrast T1-weighted sagittal MRI scan with rim-enhanced left-side lesion. E: 2-D echocardiogram obtained during left-side injection of agitated normal saline.